


Nothing Meant

by navree



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Episode Tag, F/M, First Kiss, Revenge Kiss, Surprise Kissing, based off the promo because i’m still screaming, i mean sorta kinda
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-13
Updated: 2018-02-13
Packaged: 2019-03-17 18:09:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13664466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/navree/pseuds/navree
Summary: They’re all left somewhat stunned, except for Veronica, who has a grim look of satisfaction on her face. Jughead’s ears are ringing.How the pool kiss scene should go.





	Nothing Meant

**Author's Note:**

> They were doing me so good this season with the minimal buggie and all that good jeronica content, and then the lice infestation returned and i was done dirty. but!!!! that promo saved my life, saved my year!!! and i know the writers aren’t gonna do this properly because they’re sorta talentless, but i’m not, so here i am.  
>  **EDIT** : So yeah they fucked it up because RAS is an alien who doesn't know how human emotions work, so feel free to use this to wash the taste of 2x14's Dark Betty out of your mouth  
> as always, comments (either positive or constructive) are always welcome and much appreciated!

It’s the end times when Jughead finds out about Betty and Archie. Which might sound melodramatic, but it’s true. They all should have known that things would come to a head during a retreat in a cabin in the woods, because all important, life altering things happen in places like cabins in the woods. 

Maybe it was Archie’s fault for suggesting Never Have I Ever as a late night game. Maybe it was Jughead’s fault for allowing himself to be tipsy enough to agree. Maybe it was Veronica’s fault for accidentally spilling the beans. Maybe it was Betty’s fault for not having told him in the first place. Maybe it was both Archie and Betty’s faults for making out with each other just days after ending relationships that, by any high school standard, could be considered long term. 

Because it was Veronica’s turn, fresh off another drink from Jughead’s ‘Never have I ever had a sleepover with Cheryl Blossom’ **_(_** to which she stuck at her tongue out at him, which actually made him smile **_)_**. So she raised her glass and said, “Never have I ever kissed Archie Andrews.” She seemed surprised when she was the only one who took a drink. “Betty.” Betty looked at her, wide eyed. 

“What?” Veronica raised an eyebrow at her. 

“Take a drink?” Archie’s brow was furrowed, and Jughead was definitely confused, but with a gnawing pit growing in his stomach. “Christmas? Romantic moment in the car?” Betty’s blue eyes filled, and Jughead realized that he was the stupidest person in the world. He was out of his chair and out of his room in the same second, with Betty clambering to follow him. 

“Jug!” He didn’t stop. “Jug, wait!” 

“What, Betty?” He whirled around, feeling his chest tighten. She looked contrite, and it all felt so fake that Jughead wanted to vomit. “Do you want to give me a play by play? A second by second review of how you kissed Archie and how it was the best moment of your life?” She looked hurt. As if _she_ had been wronged. 

“I want to explain,” Betty whispered, looking up at him through pale lashes. Jughead shook his head, disbelieving. 

“You know, I could forgive you kissing Archie, even if it was right after we broke up.” His voice shook slightly. “But why wouldn’t you tell me about it? Why wouldn’t you tell me after I _asked_ you, specifically?” Betty moved as if to take his hands. Jughead snatched them away, backing up a step. Betty didn’t take a step forward. 

“I didn’t know how to tell you...” Jughead scoffed. 

“I’m done, Betty. I’m done.” He turned away again, stalking off to his room, slamming the door once he was in. To his immense relief, Betty didn’t try to follow him.

And that’s where they are now. He’s not speaking to Betty, even if she’s tried to find him. He’s avoiding her, hiding from her, soaking in the hot tub even though it’s late and the sky is dark. He likes the heat, likes the black. It’s giving him the chance to unwind he hasn’t had in Riverdale, hell, hasn’t even had during this vacation thanks to the Archie/Betty bombshell. 

His head is tipped back, his eyes closed, allowing the steam to dampen his hair. And then there’s a clearing of a throat, a very feminine clearing, and he’s prepared to jump out and run as fast as he can away from Betty before he opens his eyes. And Veronica’s standing at the edge of the hot tub, in a simple black bathing suit that makes her look breathtaking. 

“Hey.” She nods back, putting her towel down and fixing her dark hair up unto a ponytail. It’s a good look on her, accenting her throat and collarbones, bringing focus to her full lips and big sloe eyes. Jughead swallows and waits for her to respond. 

“Can I join?” Veronica moves her head in his direction. Jughead shrugs. 

“If you want.” She seems to take that as an invitation, dipping her toes into the water first, before coming in all the way with a contented sigh. There’s a smile playing on her lips as she sinks so that the water goes over her shoulders, wetting the tendrils of dark hair. Jughead watches for a moment, and then closes his eyes again. His face is just warm because of the steam. 

When he opens then, Veronica is sitting nearer to him, arms up against the rim of the hot tub. “Hiding from Betty?” she asks. Jughead snorts, and nods his assent. 

“Hiding from Archie?” He means it as a joke, because he hasn’t seen either Veronica or Archie since the disastrous drinking game from the night. So he’s surprised to see Veronica nod too. “Wait, seriously?” 

“We’re having a thing,” she explains, splashing some water on her neck. “He thinks I dropped the kiss bombshell on purpose. Like I somehow knew Betty would lie to you about it.” She’s got a wry look on her face, and Jughead allows himself a small smile, before letting it fall. 

“Did you?” Veronica looks appropriately shocked and offended. 

“No!” Jughead raises his hands in surrender, and she leans back with a sigh. “Jughead, I genuinely thought that she’d told you about it. Just like Archie told me.” Well, that certainly makes it harder to be mad at Archie about the whole thing. He was honest with his significant other, at least. Guess it was just Betty who felt the need to be a lying liar who lies. 

“Apparently we were both under misconceptions.” Veronica hums, and Jughead pushes himself closer to her. “And for what it’s worth, I don’t think you did that on purpose or anything.” Even sitting down, Veronica’s still the slightest bit shorter than him, and she looks up at him through long lashes. Unlike Betty last night, her gaze isn’t wet and sad and pleading. It’s appreciative. 

“Thank you, Jughead.” The heat must be getting to his head, because Jughead likes the way she says his name, soft and kind. “And for what it’s worth, I’m sorry about springing it on you. If I could go back and shut up, I would.” He shakes his head, a smile turning up the corners of his lips. 

“I wouldn’t want you to,” he insists. “At least everything’s out in the open, right?” Veronica nods, twirling her finger in the water between them. Somehow, they’ve gotten even closer, so much so that Jughead would only have to shift his knee the slightest bit so that there would be skin to skin contact. “Which one of them do you hate more?” Veronica glances at him, startled. “I can’t decide.” He can see the muscle in her jaw clench, and see her swallow. 

“I don’t know,” is her answer, raw and honest. Jughead nods to himself, and comes under the sudden realization that all he has to do is move just a bit and then he would be kissing her. Veronica seems to realize it too, because she’s looking at him with those dark eyes, unreadable, lips slightlyh parted as if about to speak. His heartrate picks up. 

And then they’re interrupted by the sound of bare feet on wood, accompanied by voices. They both move apart, just as Archie and Betty, in swim drunks and what could either be a bikini or underwear, arrive, clearly in deep conversation. They stop when they notice Veronica and Jughead together. 

“We can leave,” Archie says immediately. Betty’s too busy giving Jughead a mournful look. He’s about to agree, when Veronica holds up a hand, and then beckons the two with a flick of her fingers. 

“Nonsense.” Her voice sounds light and breezy, but there’s a hard edge to it. Jughead seems to be the only one who’s noticed it. “There’s plenty of room in here for all of us.” She makes room for Betty, and Jughead does the for Archie by moving as far away as he can from his potentially ex girlfriend. 

It’s silent and awkward in the tub. The steam obscures some of their features, giving the entire event a blurry, dreamlike quality, not unlike an alcohol buzz. Archie looks awkward, Veronica steely, Betty uncertain. Jughead wonders if anyone’s drowend themselves in a hot tub before. If not, he might set a record tonight. 

“So...” Veronica begins, leaning back, one arm resting on the lip of the hot tub. “What were you two talking about just now?” She looks at Archie and Betty expectantly. They glance at each other, uncomfortable. 

“Um, nothing.” Betty fidgets in the water. “Just...stuff, you know?” 

“No.” Veronica shakes her head. “I don’t. You wanna elaborate on that, B?” Betty shoots her a look, and Veronica shrugs. Archie’s looking up at the stars, or rolling his eyes at the antics. Jughead wades in.

“Discussing their next clandestine romantic rendezvous, probably,” he mutters. Archie glares at him sharply, and Veronica laughs. “Either that or some other kind of secret. Right Bets?” 

“That’s not what we were talking about!” Her voice pitches upward, and she takes a deep breath. “Jughead, I’m sorry, OK? I just didn’t know how to tell you. Would you have known how to tell me?” 

“If I kissed someone after we broke up and you asked me point blank about it?” Jughead shakes damp hair out of his eyes, disbelieving. “Yeah, Betty, I would have. If you’d asked me, I would have said that yes, I did, I kissed Person X. It’s that simple.” Betty’s biting down on her lower lip. 

“Hey, Jug-” Archie moves as if to touch his arm, and Jughead shifts away, not even looking at him. Veronica might not know which one of them to be angry at, but Jughead’s finding he can be mad at both with equal measure. He looks at her, and she looks back with an even gaze. As if to say, it’s your game now. She’s giving him the reins of the conversation, because she must know he has more questions than she does, more rage than she does. Jughead’s grateful to her for it. 

“Answer this, if you want to be honest now.” Betty nods, eager. “Did he kiss you, or did you kiss him?” And despite her apparent determination to come clean, she doesn’t answer. “Betty?” His heart is pounding again, and in spite of himself he wants some magical answer that’ll fix everything. But she isn’t even looking at him, she’s looking at Veronica, with a world of apologies in her eyes, mouth partially open. 

Archie sighs. “She kissed me, man.” Jughead is up immediately, and exits the hot tub, looking for his towel. “But I kissed her back, Jughead, it wasn’t just her!” 

“Oh my God.” Veronica stands as she says this, taking steps away from Archie, hands held out in front of her as if she touched something infected. 

“It didn’t mean anything!” Betty’s tone is pleading, to the both of them, as Veronica makes to leave. Jughead rounds on her, his hands shaking. 

“A kiss always means something!” His voice trembles, and he grits his teeth. “That’s why you kiss people, because they mean something to you.” Both Archie and Betty are talking now, overlapping on each other, both saying essentially the same thing: that it was one time, that it didn’t mean anything, that Betty was sorry she hadn’t told the truth. 

“Stop.” Veronica’s out of the hot tub, and on the deck, near Jughead. Everyone falls silent. “You guys are right.” Her voice is cold, and she backs herself closer to Jughead. “A kiss is nothing. It doesn’t mean anything.” She turns to face Jughead, who suddenly feels very confused.

Her hands come up to frame his face. “Not a thing, right?” She slides herself closer to him, and in spite of himself Jughead feels a smile begin. One hand snakes around her waist, palm splayed along her lower back, and the other cups her cheek. It’s as if, suddenly, everything has been leaning up to this moment. Veronica kisses him, very slowly at first, and at first Jughead does the same. He knows Veronica’s just trying to make a point. But something inside him kicks itself awake, and he tugs her closer, and kisses her harder. Veronica’s fingers are threading in his wet hair now, and the hand that was on her cheek has moved to brace the back of her throat, right at the base of her skull, anchoring her in place, keeping her close to him. Jughead can feel her elbow on his shoulder as her arms wind around his neck. She fits against him perfectly. 

They break away, disentangling themselves from each other, both slightly out of breath. Veronica stares at him, lips still parted, and he stares back, a tight feeling in his chest. Behind them are Betty and Archie, each open mouthed. Veronica pulls away from Jughead, hands dropping to her hips. They’re all left somewhat stunned, except for Veronica, who has a grim look of satisfaction on her face. Jughead’s ears are ringing. 

“Like you said.” Veronica’s voice is flint. “A kiss doesn’t mean anything.” She grabs her towel and walks off, sparing one glance to Jughead only, a glance where the only thing out of the ordinary is the slight look of confusion in her eyes. Archie looks like someone punched him; Betty looks gutted. 

And Jughead. Jughead is realizing that, in this moment, everything has just turned on its head. Everything is different. 


End file.
